The Wyvern's Spur - Kate Novak [6]
Looking up at the brooding monstrosity as he approached, Giogi was reminded again of the dragon that had fallen on VVestgate and the earthquakes and underworld power-struggle that had ensued. Having dealt with all those things, Giogi assured himself, coping with this family crisis shouldn't be too difficult.
2
Family
Giogi circled the castle walls to the front gate, strode into the courtyard, and tapped on the hall door. An unfamiliar footman opened the portal a crack and peered out at the shaggy, gangly noble dressed in yellow pants and a red-and-white striped shirt covered with a black tabard. The tabard was emblazoned with the Wyvernspur coat of arms, but the man who wore it looked more like a traveling juggler than an Immersea noble. The servant stood waiting impatiently for the man to speak.
Giogi was unaccustomed to having to announce his business at the doorstep of his own family's ancestral home. He, too, stood in silence, waiting to be recognized.
Finally the footman spoke. "Well, what is it?" he asked, his face creased with irritation.
"I'm here to see my Aunt Dorath."
The footman opened the door an inch wider. "And you are?"
"Giogi. Giogioni Wyvernspur."
The footman's facial creases retreated just a fraction. "Oh," he said without enthusiasm. He held the door open so that Giogi could enter the main hall. As the noble clomped in, the footman eyed Giogi's dodders; his attention was not lost on Giogi.
"Great boots, aren't they? Bought them in Westgate."
The servant maintained his stoic expression and did not comment on the boots. He held out his arm for Giogi's cloak and said, "The gentlemen are still in the dining room having their brandy. The ladies are in the parlor. I presume you know the way."
"Yes," Giogi replied, handing over his cloak.
Laden with Giogi's outdoor gear, the footman disappeared through a small door.
Left alone again, Giogi felt hesitant to return to the bosom of his family. There had been a reason he'd moved from Redstone to his parents' old townhouse. His family thought him a fool and made a habit of reminding him of it. He was branded for life just because, as a boy, he'd accidentally let an evil efreet out of a bottle in Uncle Drone's lab and had once tried to fly off the stable roof with pigeon feathers-and had gotten himself locked in the family crypt-which had really been Cousin Steele's fault.
If only he could get them to forget the foibles of his youth and judge him on his behavior as an adult-except for when he'd lost Aunt Dorath's pet land urchin in the provisions wagon of the seventh division of His Majesty's Purple Dragoons and the time he'd gone skinny-dipping in the Wyvernwater on Midwinter Day. After all, he had no idea a land urchin could eat so much, and no one as inebriated as he on that Midwinter Day would have passed up such a profitable wager.
He hadn't done anything that foolish since-well, not since last spring, when he'd done his impersonation of King Azoun and ended up in a brawl with the crazy Alias of Westgate, knocking down a tent on top of two hundred people and nearly breaking up Frefford's wedding reception. He hadn't wanted to do the impersonation, but his girlfriend, Minda, had nagged him into it. If his family could only forget that incident, and if no stories of his exploits in Westgate reached their ears, they might just begin treating him like a normal person. Granted, that was more luck than the goddess Tymora usually dealt anyone, but it was still possible.
Prepared to make a fresh start with his family, Giogi considered whether to go straight to the parlor to pay his respects to Aunt Dorath, or to join the gentlemen in the dining room for some brandy. If he entered the parlor while the ladies were still discussing "female things," his